Thursday, July 3, 2008

Happy 4th of July!!

Happy 4th of July!! This is only our second 4th of July (EVER) not being with family. The first being when we lived in good ole Indiana and Samuel was due in 5 days (not the greatest time to travel:) and the second, now,....when gas prices are outrageous ($4.50 a gallon!!) and my hubby's leaving in a week...That's right, one week left until D-Day. Sigh...
We came back from our peaceful happy getaway (see pictures below if you missed them!) to find a sick child. My dearest Samuel has now shared his nasty cold with the rest of us so we've had a yucky week:*( As I write, it is 10:30pm (I know!! I should be in bed!!) and Zakkai is starting to cry..he has a nasty cough; kind of sounds like a smoker. Pray that Ben doesn't really catch this nasty thing because it wouldn't be a good way to begin a trip!
Tonight we had a picnic at the Point with our housegroup friends. "The Friends" as Samuel calls them:) We bbq'd and Samuel ate up the attention and acted like a wild-man! Unfortunately, the night ended with him in a time-out in the stroller screaming and Zakkai hacking and me blowing my drippy nose....Ah, the wonders of family life!! Hopefully we will all feel better tomorrow!!
Good news!! I had a thyroid check-up today and....I am officially in remission!!! I really feel like God answered lots of prayers and healed me. I don't have to see the dr. until November (Wow, 4 whole months of no doctor??!!!) Yea!!!
One week left until Ben leaves for Turkey! We are beginning preparations for his trip...getting things like gatorade (no repeats of our Israel horrors, thank you!), sunscreen, bug spray, etc. Now, how to pack for 9 weeks in one suitcase....I looked on the airline website this week and he gets one 44 lb suitcase and an 11lb carry-on. It will be a tough job for Master Packer Heidi! 44 lbs seems like a lot you say? Then you have never been married to someone who regularly reads books the size of a phone book!! And of course books are going to have to travel with him!
Here's the trip info for anyone wondering..He leaves on Friday July 11th in the afternoon and flies into Rome (cool!) with a couple of other guys in his program. From there they fly to Istanbul; they won't be getting to Turkey until Saturday! Long trip, yuck! They will be digging at a place called Zincerli (Zin-jer-lee). You can see it on Google Earth if you type it in! Ben will be an area supervisor (looks great on a resume!) because of his previous dig experience. The actual dig is 7 weeks long. Then the supervisors stay an extra week to write up reports and then Ben and two friends are traveling to Istanbul for 3 days to sight see. He will be home on September 9th. It will be a lot of hard work and really hot! I feel good about him going because he has gotten himself into amazing shape and feels SOOOOOOO much better than he did a few months ago. BUT we really really would covet any and all prayers during this time for safety, good health...and for Samuel who has been having a hard time with daddy going anywhere since we came back this week. This will be quite an adjustment for him; thank goodness we have Mugga, Papa and Grandma to see!!
Tomorrow for the 4th, we have a parade and another picnic/bbq to go to! Then this weekend is a celebration for Samuel! He is SO excited to turn "free" and has been waiting impatiently for Sunday to come! I'll have birthday pictures to post in a couple of days!!

1 comment:

Angela Kim said...

Heidi,

Thanks for the updates! :) For some reason I can't see your get-away pictures...don't know if anyone else is having that problem.

I will CERTAINLY keep you all in my prayers as you prepare for Ben to leave--and during the trip of course!
I know this is going to be incredibly difficult for Samuel and for you as well...but at least you understand what's going on. It's going to be tough to figure out how to be a single mom for a little while. I will be thinking of you.

Can't WAIT to see you when you're in Columbus. And please call me any time you need someone to talk to.

see you soon...angela

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